The Obama administration is wrestling with the thorny question of whether scientists should inject healthy children with the anthrax vaccine to see whether the shots would safely protect them against a bioterrorism attack.

Foster children often come from an environment in which their health care needs are neglected. It has only been in the last quarter-century that the unique health care needs of foster children have started to receive the attention they deserve. In 1983, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adoption reported that children in foster care were not likely to receive routine health care, immunizations, dental care, or hearing or vision screening. In 1988, the Child Welfare League of America published guidelines for the care of foster children which included an initial screen for immediate health needs, a comprehensive assessment within one month of entering into foster care, and a developmental and mental health assessment for all children whether or not neglect is perceived as an issue in their previous home. Moreover, in 1994 the AAP Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care recommended a comprehensive and coordinated treatment approach.

I, too, was saddened and angered by the massacre at the elementary school in Newtown, Conn., last month, but I wasn’t frightened for the safety of the children in my life until last week, when I heard that Maine lawmakers will soon consider a proposal to arm teachers with guns.